COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 31, 2012) - The U.S. Paralympic Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team fell to
the 2008 defending gold medalists, China in four sets, 22-25, 32-30, 25-23,
25-17 in its first match of the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

The Americans were led by Katie Holloway (Lake Stevens, Wash.) who charted 21 points off of 19 kills and two blocks. Heather Erickson (Fayetteville, N.C.) added 13 points for the U.S. off of 10 kills, two block and an ace.

"I think the team did well, we came out relaxed and confident and I think we played the game plan we needed to initially," Holloway said. "From there, it broke down a little bit."

After one day of play Holloway is the second-highest scorer of the tournament, six points behind China’s Yu Hong Sheng.

Team USA out-blocked China 13-6, while China led 12-2 aces. The U.S. gave China 29 points on errors.

"We know it’s under our control," Holloway said. "If you look at the stats, it’s our errors that are hurting us the most. Honestly it comes down to service errors, to hitting errors, to just those little defensive errors…"

The U.S. will continue preliminary pool-play action on Saturday against Slovenia at 7 p.m. (11 a.m. PST).